Finding the Balance
by ehrl-tree3
Summary: Sebastian is the son of the mayor of Lima, Blaine is sleeping with Rajish (Rav), which gets under Sebastian's skin for various reasons. This is the Scaling the Dalton Drainpipes fic. It's an exploratory fic that involves the themes of race and sexuality. Can Sebastian wake up to his own misconceptions?
1. Sebastian's Predicament

Sebastian blinked blearily at the light filtering through his dorm room curtains. For god's sake, what day is it? He thought. He stirred fitfully, half zombie half sloth, scattering red party cups onto the floor. In the stark light of morning he became all too aware that one: the room was a mess: streamers, glitter and party foam everywhere. And two: this was not his bedroom.

The walls were a sunny mango shade instead of the blue that adorned his dorm. The dresser was pine wood and piled high with things he had not seen before in his life, and there was a violin case and an acoustic guitar leaned jauntily in the corner by the window.

Sebastian groaned. Whoever threw this dorm party had brought a lot of tequila. And... He'd obviously slept with someone. He had to get out of here. Cursing himself for allowing this to happen yet again, Sebastian hopped around while attempting to shuck on one leg of his now wrinkled school slacks, leaving whoever had been laying beside him to bury themselves further into piles of streamers and silk bed linens.

Around him he could see three other beds in various degrees of disarray. The limbs sticking out from under haphazard duvet quilts did not look like they belonged to three people. Not to mention he had to skirt around several loudly snoring seniors and girls from Crawford that had made the shag pile rug their bed for the night.

Unable to find his blazer, or shirt among the bodies and other assorted discarded clothing, he grabbed a random tie and sprinted from the room. Hopefully no one noticed his hasty departure. He could shower and arrive early for breakfast and seem the model student. If he could only get back to his own room without anyone noticing...

Barefoot, cold, and with only a crumpled up tie to his name, the Sebastian tiptoed down the marble staircase, and peered around the door into the foyer.

He was passing the west wing on his way down the gallery, when something gave the Sebastian pause.

There was a very good chance he had left his Zed-key in one of his discarded pockets and without it there was no possibility that his (single bed) dorm room could be accessed. Sebastian rubbed his pounding temples, irate at his own haste. The fact that he'd splashed out on a private dorm (with father's cash) was beginning to become a decision he regretted. .. A few roommates meant extra keys and less responsibility. On the other hand, he was obviously also missing out on the many-limbed camaraderie he'd borne witness to upstairs. He winced. That couldn't happen again. He promised his parents that he's focus on school more this semester.

He always left his window open in early autumn. If he could find a way to climb up onto the portico, he might be able to skirt along and climb up onto the low ledge and into his bedroom window. It was a small window but he could probably fit. The problem was how to get up onto the portico, if only there was something to stand on... like a side table.

Struggling up the drainpipe proved to be more difficult than imagined. While making his way across the overhang, he pondered about whomever it was he'd tossed the proverbial salad with last night. If memory served correctly, there hadn't been anyone of interest at the pre-drink shindig before they left for the local karaoke bar. He mentally skimmed a list of names in his head... Sean had been there. That guy was president of the celibacy club. Aton, Philip and Rodney. All sophomores who spent the night singing really bad Mariah Carey numbers, Hansuv- the less said the better... several girls... (Sebastian thought he hadn't drunk enough to get loosely bicurious, but who knew really?) David and Wes... Nick... glee club members. Not the glee club members he would choose to get off with. Had Blaine Anderson been there? Had he? Sebastian vaguely recalled him getting vocally bombastic with a girl from their Interscholastic Latin class... then getting crazy drunk with Javert, then dancing with said captain Dalton's lacrosse team. Sadly no sugar for Sebastian. He doubted that mystery boy upstairs was Anderson. As he recalled Blaine had left early in the night, mentioning something about an early violin class the next day. There had been a violin case in the Room but _as if_ prim and proper, Blaine Anderson would play host to the biggest binge night of the year so far...

Anyway. He was sure he didn't want to know about yet another get together where he had failed at peaking the attention of the boy again. It happened all too often. Flirting just didn't work on the inimitable boy. Neither did playing hard to get or kissing his dates. The past year had been difficult to say the least. Sebastian's friends told him all he needed to do was talk to the guy. But Sebastian was only a talker when it came to jibes and biting insult. That was just who he was.

It just so happened, that as Sebastian was scaling the drainpipe that morning, he was rudely interrupted by a pair of bemused eyes observing his hasty climb to freedom. Said eyes were framed by red glasses.

"Smythe isn't it?" a familiar drawl. A familiar mouth and that familiar, damnable expression.

Sebastian peered down awkwardly. God damn him.

"Lovely morning for it." Sebastian said breezily, hoping that the worst moment of his life would seem hilarious in hindsight. it was not a very becoming angle, clinging to a drainpipe in the early hours of a Sunday morning, and he at least hope he had shaken off most of the confetti (and most of the guilt) from his person.

The other student was unmoved by Sebastian's apparent inner turmoil and put one ringed hand up to shield himself to the bright watery sunlight. "You look cold..." he called out to him distinctly. "I saw you at Rob's last night. Er... but what are you doing?"

Oh no.

"I remember you too" Sebastian tried to strike up an aloof air "nice dancing... good dislocation" he was rambling

"I think I scared poor Javert" said Blaine ruefully

Sebastian snorted and tried to fold his free arm across his nipples which were standing to attention because of the cold.

"That poor boy didn't look scared to me."

Something flickered behind the observing students' eyes before he laughed.

Thinking quickly under the scrutiny, and latching immediately to any explanation that made it seem like he wasn't doing some bizarrely vertical walk of shame from yet another night of... _well_ Sebastian wasn't sure of what exactly had happened between himself and Mystery Boy but it was probably what usually went down. No pun intended.

"I'm researching my Robotic Séance project."

"Sure you are. I would believe that if I didn't see you at the party last night. What are you doing?" he said again eyes wide with mirth and warmth. "Shouldn't you be with Pete Bletchley?" I didn't take you for a cut and run type."

Pete?

Memory returning to him, Sebastian balked and returned fire. Blaine's lips forming those words brought back images he really wanted to forget. He was suddenly numb and angry.

"Shouldn't you be basking in the afterglow with Ravvie?" he spat bitterly.

Blaine looked surprised, smiled apologetically as emotion began to crowd in on the corners of his eyes.

"He- he said he had to go. It's not like I- It was just a one night stand." Blaine spoke firmly, and blinked frowning a little too hard.

Confused at Blaine's response Sebastian reacted to that statement the only way he knew how.

"I'm sure you're both relieved." He punctuated the words with an airy sarcasm he didn't feel.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blaine was frowning, eyes mystified.

"Oh you know. Just the two of you. Together. Makes no sense. He's like... Indian. You know his parents don't approve. .. " _And you don't do one night stands._

Blaine's eyes dimmed. He looked like he had never seen Sebastian before now.

"And then there's your Dad. You told David he wasn't accepting of your sexuality..." Sebastian waved a hand. "I'd imagine he wouldn't take it well if you were dating Rav too."

"Why." Blaine's tone was light

Still wincing from the onslaught of cringe that was last night, Sebastian spelled it out for him. All his balled up frustration at people who slept with Blaine came out in a passive aggressive jumble.

"My dad- you know him- he's not into me being with guys. But I'll tell you. The older generation of guys in Lima are so definitely not into interracial... stuff. You're making it way harder for yourself. The first guy you bring home should at least be white." Sebastian raised one brow "I'm just looking out for your best interests."

Blaine looked like he was finding difficulty in swallowing a wedge of lemon.

"Thank you. _Sebastian_. You know... you are such a great guy. "He spoke sweetly

Sebastian might have preened a little. Blaine's eyes were still trained carefully on him.

"But really?" one side of Blaine's mouth had curled down, and Sebastian's stomach dropped. Two pearly incisors bit at the rose pink flesh of his bottom lip. It was unfairly enticing.

"That's what you think of interracial dating?" Blaine's smile was tight. "You think my father-" Blaine's voice tripped over the word "you think my father has a problem with interracial dating?" Blaine laughed hollowly, it sounded unusual.

"But you know thank you for that advice, lord Smythe, son of the mayor of lima!? Thank you for bestowing such sage advice upon me in all honesty. Honestly." Blaine's spoke in a sing-song manner, but his eyes became hard.

"Honestly you can take that advice and shove it directly up your ass". Sebastian, didn't quite clock what he said for a moment.

Blood rushing to his cheeks, Sebastian opened his mouth for an angry retort. But Blaine interrupted him.

"My dad is as philipino as they come." Blaine continued. "If he's uncomfortable with me being gay that's because he fucking grew up in Manila and doesn't know any better. What's your excuse? He HIMSELF is in an interracial relationship. And we may have our differences, but believe me when I say this: Those differences are not the business of every rich, nosy, puffed up, daddy's boy, in this school who thinks the world revolves around white people and that everyone else is secondary."

Shit.

Blaine.

Blaine was part Philippine? Sebastian seriously did not equate his beautiful crush with... being half-anything other than Caucasian.

"You don't look-"

Blaine looked disgusted.

"I will stop you right there Smythe, before my estimation of you sinks any lower. I thought you were cool, But then" Blaine laughed sullenly "I've been known to be a terrible judge of character." The beautiful tenor turned and left him shivering on the drainpipe.

"Do us both a favour, and never speak to me again." Blaine threw him a cursory glance and closed his eyes as if he was in some sort of pain.

Stunned and frozen, Sebastian could do nothing but watch him leave.

He had really fucked this up. There was emptiness in the pit of his stomach as he steeled himself and continued up the drainpipe. He had had no idea about Blaine's heritage. Race was usually a murky depth Sebastian never got to near for precisely reasons like this. He always messed up. Crawling through the window of his bedroom, Sebastian flopped exhausted and sweaty onto his bedspread. He still had... strange feelings for the guy despite learning about his parents- races-. Those feelings wouldn't go away. He wasn't suddenly turned off. Attraction didn't seem to be like a switch you could control on a whim, Sebastian knew this.

Burying his head under his pillow, Sebastian decided to skip breakfast.


	2. Hyper Loop

Sebastian tapped impatiently on the bell of the front desk. An elderly man with neatly parted grey hair ambled out from a doorway, he was wiping a pair of wire rimmed spectacles in a tired sort of way.

Mr Ryerson was the groundsman at Dalton. He was usually found holed up in his office block, since there wasn't much actual grounds-keeping to do- The schools several wild orchards and flower gardens were kept in line by the Landscaping Club, and begrudgingly, Sebastian thought they did a surprisingly adept job of it. Their gardens were always a riot of colour in the summer, and the lawns well manicured. Who would have expected such diligence from a dozen dirt-laden, rough-housing boys? It boggled the mind.

These days, Jack Ryerson was mostly charged with administrating the school dormitories and kitchens and keeping everything in order. He was coming on 80 years old which might account for why some students got off scott-free when they had their (entirely illicit- according to the official school rulebook) dorm parties. Sebastian rolled his eyes. Poor Mr Ryerson. Deaf as a post, and too kind-hearted for the role of disciplinarian. He was peering at Sebastian now, with bright eyes and an inquisitive expression that folded his skin into innumerable lines.

"Mr Ryerson- So sorry to bother you on your day off..." Sebastian hesitated. "It's just that I'm in need of a replacement key." Sebatian felt terrible for asking. He hadn't had the nerve to go back up to the west wing, to the room with the mango walls, in case he faced awkward questions. Mystery boy's face still eluded him. And he might get invited to more parties. That would be bad. Starting now, he meant to turn over a new leaf. And he didn't want to think about what had happened earlier that day. He'd majorly stuck his foot into his mouth in front of someone he geniuinly wanted to befriend. He was lying to himself if he didn't admit that he still smarted a little from it. What had possessed him to explode like that?!

He snapped out of his reverie at a jangling sound. Mr Ryerson was swinging the keys in front of his face.

"Wake up, boy! You look like a lamb headed for the slaughter". The man looked at him admonishingly. "Don't lose them. Keys don't grow out my damned ears, you know."

"I hope you didn't grow these out your ears" he retorted

"go on! scat!" Mr Ryerson grumbled, hobbling away.

Sebastian grinned and walked down the coridoor, new keys jangling in his pocket.

Blaine's threw his hands up in surrender. Scattered around him on the table where he was seated were books, bits of crumpled up pages and notes written in a quick scrawl. Broodingly, he looked around the Senior Commons, where many other students were wrestling with their 10 page assignment for English Lit. Kenneth Stroud from his class looked harrassed as he shooed several Freshmen out of the commons. (Go and play hockey on the quad!). Hansuf, Jerry and Vlad were pouring over battered copies of Little Women, and Of Mice and Men, and Carin had taken an entire corner of the room to use as a "brainstorm cloud"- many colourful highlighted notes were blue-tacked to the walls around him.

Carin himself (a towering straight A student with corkscrews of dyed blond hair) was half-sunken into a squashy purple bean bag, and typing furiously on his laptop. Deciding to finish up in his room, Blaine got up intending on shoving everything unceremoniously into his bag. Just as he was slinging his book-bag over his shoulder, the large double-door creaked minutely open and two gurning faces peered around it.

Blaine's friends were not in the same english classes as him this year. Guisse was smirking at him now as he hurried through the door. Around his neck, the blond boy wore a blue scarf, and the two of his ears were pierced at the top. His hair was as tousled as usual. Beside him, was a short, dark haired girl who shared their latin classes, her looks were pristine, with not a brow hair out of place and perfectly applied gloss on her lips. She smacked him carelessly on the back, enough to wind him as he closed the doors behind him with an echoey thud.

"STILL AT IT, Brainiac?" Santana smirked and removed the pencil that had been keeping her hair up in a messy bun.

Blaine rolled his eyes. Santana knew the irony of her statement; and that she was first in Latin class.

"It's Pearl Harbour in there" Blaine said agitatedly. "Carin wallpapered the YA section, and Kenneth's having an aneurism."

"Dude, you have to be done soon though." Guisse urged, tugging back a random curl that had fallen over Blaine's eye. "The Coffee Bean is calling me. There's a caramel frappe with my name on it" He moaned, closing his eyes.

Blaine chased his hand away with a grin, and then pulled a face. "I like my coffee straight up."

"You injur him, Blaine. Caramel frappes are life essence. You should try one." Santana spoke determindly, and then touched one forefinger to her temple, sending a quick text on her X-Display.

"Raj is coming. He's been on at me because you've been so busy. Take your puppy back into your custody."

"He's back?" Blaine nearly dropped his books

"Me and Lopez agreed that you need a break-"

"I bet you've written eleven pages for your assignment and now you need to edit, is that right?" Santana snorted derisively

"Fifteen" Blaine scratched his head distractedly. He hadn't seen Rajish since Kareoke night.

"Unbelievable."

"Okay I take your point" Blaine laughed "Let's go get caloried up to our eyeballs."

"You're blushing".

"Oh shut up."

"Eager?"

Guisse wooped.

Taking the HyperLoop into the CityCore was always something Blaine, Santana and Guisse enjoyed. The pods were spacious compared to the underground ones, and the glassy tube of the magnetic train loop towered loftily over the fields and woods at a spine-tingling 90 feet. The views were incredible, and Guisse always managed to charm the woman with the push trolley into giving them free marshcreme whips. The whips were Blaine's favourite candy. Santana would load up a new playlist of mood music she had mixed, and they would spend a happy hour playing HoloSnap or braiding Guisse's hair.

Blaine peered around nervously. He was quite looking froward to having Rav along with them but things were very new with them. The time they had messed around together a few a days ago had been the first time he'd done anything of the sort, regardless of what the school grapevine told people about his proclivaties. The truth was that Blaine had been tutoring Rajish on the say of Senior Class President Roomba- An AI that was programmed to enlist student mentors based on their academic strengths and weaknesses. It used a predictive algorithm that paired students based on a social compatibility index- meaning students who were likely to get along, have co-enhancing interests and a generally an inclination to want people to do well. Bam. you had a great system for increasing test scores. The problem was that the algorithm was likely to pair you with someone you would undoubtedly fall for. It was not an uncommon occurence since both Dalton and Cravens Cybernetics Institute for Girls were part of the same program. They had tweaked the program to try to eliminate attraction between students, for instance by operating against sexual orientation. However it wasn't perfect and Roomba obviously still had a problem calculating and accounting for the fluidity exhibited by hormone-addled teenagers, Blaine grinned wryly.

Rajish was one of those 16 year olds in their questioning state. He was extremely questioning, curious... and thorough. Blaine flushed and threw down a card to hide his reddened face from Santana and Guisse's inquisitive glances. Extremely thorough for someone who hadn't thought about boys until now...

"GIN!" Santana exclaimed, whooping as she swept the pile of cards onto her lap

Guisse groaned, throwing his cards down onto the polished oak table.

"Hand over your CremeWhips, loser." Santana cackled

Guisse pushed several bunny shaped candies towards her, reluctant and grumbling.

"Thank you, darling". Santana said sweetly

"You are a fiend. Are you gambling in the Alleycat district after school or something?! How is it that beating you is nigh IMPOSSIBLE!" Guisse grumbled

"Sour grapes don't become you sweetheart." Santana grinned widely "Blaine, sugar? Would you like one of my newly acquired candies? They're your favourite." She waved one casually

Caving at the sight of the white bunny coated with powdered sugar, Blaine reached towards it smiling. "Oh go on then. You've convinced me."

Santana grinned and put the squashy head of the marshmallow rabbit between two pearly teeth and winked at him. "Cmmfg an geft ih" She said slightly muffled and her eyes wide with mirth.

Blaine rolled his eyes and brought his lips close to hers. He pinched the bunny from her teeth, but not before receiving a chaste press of her lips to his own. He bit the poor bunny in half and sat munching it mournfully, while Guisse rolled around in a state of unconcealed emotion.

Santana laughed so hard she fell back and nearly inhaled her half of the rabbit. Guisse pulled himself up finally and looked at her offended.

"And with one fell swoop." Santana gasped "Blaine was converted to ladies, for the promise of delicious sugary goods."

Guisse got up and walked towards Blaine. "Look." Guisse peered at him seriously and cupped Blaine's face in his hands, eyes emploring. "You don't want her. You want me!" Guisse threw himself onto the table in a mock-faint "That woman has cast a dark spell on your mind" Guisse grabbed at him again, his thumbs absently stroking high on his cheekbones "If I could just show you..." a laugh threatened to spill from him at any moment. "If I could just show you my manly attributes, they'll convert you to your original self."

Choking, Blaine chortled and tried to extricate himself from them both. They pulled him back, tickling him until he was weak from laughter.

It was in this state that a tall Indian boy, known to his friends as simple "Rav" found them; the boy stared at the trio rolling on the carpeted floor of the capsule in various forms of dishevelment. Guisse was howling that everybody should look at his "nips" and Santana was laughing like a maniac. Guisse was the first one to spot Rajish, leaning against the doorframe. He pulled the stretched neck of his shirt back up to cover himself, smile dropping from his face.

"Uh. Am I interupting something?" a soft voice

Rajish was taller than Blaine. He had raven black hair and the curve of his lips were quizzical. He wore silver braids around his wrists and In the crook of his right arm he carried a streamlined board without any visible wheels.

"Trust you two to seduce him while I was away." Rajish murmured dropping his board onto the table and flopping onto the seats opposite them.

"Hey Rav." Blaine hoped he sounded casual.

"Hey." Rajish's voice was suddenly husky. "You look nice."

A pair of hazel eyes stared constantly into his own and Blaine's breath caught in his throat. How was this boy able to affect him so? It didn't hurt that he was incredibly easy on the eyes but the way he looked at him...

"No WAY" Guisse was staring at Rav in outrage. "This is the new model!"

He grabbed Rav's hoverboard and held it an inch from his eye for inspection. "These aren't even on the shelves yet. How did you get one?"

Rave shrugged, tearing his gaze from Blaine.

"My Uncle works at NURenaissance. Got me this totally sweet kit for my birthday." Rav shook his head. "I don't know how he got it so early."

Blaine looked over and examined the board. He looked briefly at Rav who nodded minutely. Blaine picked it up. It was incredibly light. His fingers paused in surprise on a downward sweep. It was almost frictionless and looked about as thin as a pane of glass.

"Incredible." He muttered to himself.

He felt a solid weight settle at his side. Rav was hovering close. "I remember watching you play in freshman tryouts. You flew like a skylark."

"That was before." Blaine said still staring at the board. He could feel the warmth of Rav's body emanating from the too-far stretch of space between them. Rav's hand came up to grip waist and his breath stuttered again.

A loud cough.

"Pod time is bonding time, guys." Santana emphasised. "I've got a whole playlist of music for tube travel at the speed of sound. And none of it is sexy enough to make out to."

Reluctantly Rav went to sit where Santana had lain out more cards, throwing charged glances back at Blaine to convey his petulance and several smoulders and a whisper of _later_.

Fighting against a horrific blush, Blaine cleared his throat and sat primly on a pouf next to Rav.

"We weren't going to make out."

Santana rolled her eyes.

Outside the capsule, several teenagers flew bravely close to the Loop on boards, mechanical wings and one even on jet powered skates. Their hair whipped their faces in the sunlight as they darted and dodged delightedly.

Blaine looked at Rav. Meeting Rav's steady, speculative gaze, Blaine looked down.


End file.
